Pop 101
by Aeryn Herondale
Summary: In the world of Horitsuba Performing Arts Academy, there is only one way to succeed - to become someone. All of the students are extremely talented in their fields...but no one has ever seen the likes of Fai Flourite and what he brings to a group of five students hoping they can make it. But, when the saviour's past comes calling to collect, will they still remain? Rated M.
1. Prologue: The Night it Ended

Hello everyone! This is my first story going up...I have a few others that I'd like to at least try and start before school begins xD These ideas have been sitting around in my head for a long time now without being manifested...so here goes. ^.^

**Warnings: This story is rated M for a reason. Heavy stuff, boyxboy love, language...you understand. Don't like? Don't read. **

Detailed Summary: Korean Pop was Fai Flourite's life at one point, but he doesn't want anything to do with it now. The day that he's recruited by a performing arts school to do the very thing he loves is the worst day of his existence...or so he thinks. These friends will teach him to laugh, love, and live again...if he doesn't destroy it all first. Especially one very irresistible raven. Rated M for what you know M rating means.

With that, I suppose there's really not much left to say. I hope that you enjoy! Favorite and leave a review so I know that I should continue this story. ^.^

Thank you to **17BlackRoses** for listening to me rant about this story and helping me put it together! ^.^ **ITS HER BIRTHDAY, YOU GUYS!** GO LOOK HER UP AND FAVORITE ALL OF HER STORIES! LEAVE NICE REVIEWS! :D

* * *

"All I ever wanted to be was somebody to you"

xxxxx

All he could remember were the words that ended the night. The words that had ended everything he'd ever believed in...or at least, tried to.

"You're not the boss of me! You can't hold me! You'll never be able to keep me here!"

Looking into those garnet irises, Fai knew that this was it. He was woven into an intricate web that he could never untangle himself from. Once again, he was trapped against his will, held captive by the one who was supposed to hold all of the answers.

How could he have allowed himself to be this stupid?

A tanned hand reached for Fai's face, but the pale blonde swatted away, tears pooling in his eyes. "NO!" He screamed, hoarse. It was gettting worse...he knew that he needed to get out of here, to get away before everything came apart that night.

However, it seemed as though fate had a different plan for Fai Flourite...even when everything had come apart.

Those same strong hands gripped the blonde's shoulders, holding him in place. "You are not finished yet." That low baritone rumbled, sending heat to Fai's face against his best efforts not to feel anything. "It's not over. You can't give up yet."

Fai's face turned down, his eyes hidden behind bangs. "How do I start again? Where do I even _begin_ to try and fix this? It's all done...everything's-,"

"I'm still standing beside you." The blonde's face snapped up, his bleary cerulean orbs meeting that familiar, burning gaze. The eyes that Fai could recognize anywhere...the ones that belonged to the only one who knew him better than he knew himself.

"Why don't we start here?"

* * *

Hope that you enjoyed this prologue! More to come later~ ^.^ Credit to the Vamps for the song lyrics 3


	2. Chapter One: Danger

Hi there! Terribly sorry for the extremely late update, but life happens. x.x This story has been one of the things that I really, really want to get back to! I just started college though, and I'm sure that some of you guys know how that is. =/ Anyway, here's the first chapter - I can't promise that they will all be this long, but hey, maybe :P I don't go by page length anymore, but by quality and how long it takes to type what I think should go in the chapter xD

Part of what took so long was that I had to write this chapter twice...the first time I wrote complete bollux and I needed to re-write it. But now, here's a better version for you! Aren't ya happy? :P

There's not much to say this time around, since there are no reviews or anything...hahahahaha**PLEASEREVIEW**hahahahaha If you can't tell, I like those, and I would love to have conversations about the story, about life, or about anything in general with you.

**Things that You Might Wanna Know: **

0330330330330330330330330330330330 - **means time passing**

**Important note: **I will not translate song lyrics. I don't believe in translating them because they were not meant for English. If it's an English song, then there you go. But every song I chose does have significance. If you want to know what they are singing, look it up!

**Song Credit: DEAR by ViVid, Danger by Taemin**

On that note, have a super fantabulous day :) Please Review!

* * *

The exhausted blonde slowly sank down the smooth plastic of the booth, trying his best not to fall asleep in the middle of his shift. The lights and the smoke only added to his growing migrane, and no amount of rubbing his temples or putting his head down seemed to help. He sighed into his arms, knowing that a fifteen minute break wouldn't even begin to be enough for him to recuperate...but it was all he had. Fifteen minutes to pull himself together again, to put his smile back on and pretend that his feet weren't killing him, that he loved this job and the patrons more than anything else.

Tonight, there had been the usual; customers who groped him as he passed, who flirted with him and then verbally abused him when he didn't return their advances. Those that slipped him their numbers, which the lithe male had then put in the trash when (hopefully) they weren't looking. There were the other customers, the loud, obnoxious ones that had wandered in drunk and were going to get even more intoxicated. Those started the loud fights that he had to end with throwing the patrons out, which usually ended with him getting caught in the middle of hitting, kicking, biting...

You would think that this kind of thing shouldn't happen in a _karaoke bar_, but it did. Fai had never seen so many fights started because of music before, so much violence over a stupid song choice. Sure, his Japanese wasn't great yet, and he often misunderstood the customers, but he had never had so many people mad at him before. The poor blonde needed this job to keep living in his apartment, so it wasn't like he could quit. There weren't many people willing to hire a young man that had not graduated highschool, and most that did were jobs like these – places that sold alcohol even though minors frequently wandered in, sold more things that weren't on the menu than were on, where you could walk by the bathrooms and know that they were a common place to hook up. Even the employee bathrooms were like that. The manager would almost rent these rooms out to horny kids just to make a quick buck.

To top it all off, Fai had school in the morning. Just the thought made him groan; he ran a hand through his hair and looked at his watch, seeing that a whole five minutes had already gone by. _'Five minutes...it's only been five seconds, I swear...,' _The blonde thought, sadly wishing that the third of his time would just magically make a reappearance somehow. Or, that fifteen minutes would feel like six hours; whichever one was possible.

The blonde attended a regular public school. It wasn't anything to write home about, especially since it was in a pretty bad area. Everything just seemed to be gray and dilapitated there – it sucked the life out of everything around it. The students walked there with hunched backs and grim faces. This sounded like something out of a movie, but it was every bit true. No one wanted to attend the _haiiro no gakkou_, the gray school.

Fai had done his absolute best to try and not let the gray suck the life out of him, but he could feel his energy departing from him faster than kids left the school as soon as the bell rang. Between this job and his studies, the lithe male was stretching himself thin; he didn't know if he was going to be able to survive to the next year. As a second year in high school, with the end so close and yet so far, he couldn't do anything but just keep counting down the days until graduation (there were now 578 days remaining) and pray that he didn't die from work overload before then.

"I CAME IN LIKE A WREEECKING BAAAAAAAAAALL!"

Fai's head shot up as he nearly fell out of the booth, looking around wildly. His eyes snapped up to where the horrible sound was coming from. There was a tidal wave of 'boo's' that echoed around the room as his gaze found one of his idiot classmates, up on the stage of the bar and making a fool of himself. Haku, the DJ, was visibly wincing as the girl kept on, as well as most of the other people in the bar (or in the general vicinity of the building). The blonde groaned, looking at his watch again. His time was up – the stupid singer had come just in time.

_'Maybe I could ask him if I could record him – he'd make a good alarm clock.' _The blonde thought, wincing in pain as he got onto his feet again. He didn't realize that he had gotten up too fast; before he knew what was happening, Fai was swaying as the world spun around him. He felt himself beginning to falter, legs losing all of the feeling in them. The lithe male winced, waiting for his hard meeting with the ground beneath him.

Warm, strong hands gripped the thin male's shoulders just as a low, rumbling voice asked, "Oi. You alright?"

Fai slowly opened his eyes, finding himself staring at a warm, broad chest clad in the soft cotton of a black t-shirt. Realizing that the man was now almost holding him, the lithe male blushed and drew away from his warmth, trying not to look at him. "S-sorry...," He muttered softly, nervously running a hand through his hair.

There was a pause before the man asked something again. "Do I know you?"

The question made Fai's blood run cold. His gaze snapped to the man's face...and stopped again, barely hearing any of the noise in the rest of the building. He could barely breathe at this moment, much less think; this man's words had stolen his mental faculties, while his incredible beauty had stolen his breath. The man had skin the color of caramel. His dark, thick eyebrows stood boldly out, as did the spiky locks on his head. His sharp, garnet gaze looked deeply into Fai's, seeming to shatter every part of him in an attempt to figure him out. The blonde suddenly felt like checking himself in the mirror – did his hair look okay? He didn't look _too _pallid or tired, right? Most people said that he was something nice to look out himself, but suddenly he felt as though those compliments didn't matter. He wanted this male, this raven haired, musuclar work of art, to tell him that he was in fact as pleasing to the eye as everyone said he was.

"Um...hello?"

The lithe blonde realized that he hadn't spoken in over a minute; he blushed and looked down, shaking his head. "No...I don't recall meeting you...," He said, waiting until the blood was a little less collected in his cheeks before turning his face up to smile shyly at him. He was always shy when he met someone that caught his eye; with all of the other men that he'd brought into his bed, he'd always acted like he knew what he was doing. Even his first time, he had acted that way, and had been able to keep it up.

Fai was the best at putting up masks, at shutting people out and locking himself away where no one could find him. He knew how to push people's buttons, how to make them do what he wanted. He could be any man's fantasy; he could be the dream date for anyone who wanted to take him for a test drive. But in this moment, all he could do was dumbly stare up at this person, wondering what his name was and how he could stay glued to his side for the rest of the night. But, as Fai's luck usually dictated, no good thing could last forever.

"Fai! You need to get back to work! We have thirsty customers over here!" The manager called, signalling his cue to leave. The willowy male gave the tanned man a last smile and waved, smiling at him.

"It was nice talking to you. Please enjoy the rest of your visit." With that, the blonde went back over to the bar, a little more of a spring in his step. He felt the man's gaze on his back, loving the feeling of his eyes. _'I'm never going to see him again, and I'm already in so deep...,' _Fai thought, sighing to himself as he rejoined the world of the working class. _'I wish that I didn't have to be here...that I could talk to him for the rest of the night...,' _The male thought, sighing wistfully.

Fai watched as the tanned male made his way into a corner, crowded with kids who all waved and smiled when they saw him. The blonde felt a pang of sadness and loneliness as he looked at them; he wished that he could just walk over there and introduce himself. He used to be such a flamboyant, social person...but now, he doubted that he could even say hi to one of them in passing. He'd been taught to keep to himself, to stay quiet, to not make a fuss. Friends would leave, so it was better to not have them. All you would ever truly need was your significant other; after them, no one else should have mattered.

Maybe that train of thought was wrong – it certainly hadn't helped him any. But, there was still no way that Fai was going to change anything. Why should he? It seemed that his life was only going down the toilet at this point, and he didn't have the energy to keep going.

It was a little bit before Fai noticed the commotion coming from the tanned man's table – before he realized that there was anything going on, it was already too late to ignore it. A table hit the ground, and everyone's eyes snapped to that back table...where a shorter, skinny male with black hair and furious blue eyes. Those orbs flashed dangerously, the color of a stormy blue sea that predicted trouble on the horizon.

"_You take that back._" The black haired male's voice, a low growl, sent a shiver of fear into Fai's heart. His eyes widened, not wanting to take his eyes off of the scene...in case he was about to have to give a police statement.

"That's right. Your little faggot brother and his boy toy are gonna get it good if you don't take that comment back. Our boy Taka ain't gonna take that kinda shit being said about his girlfriend's singing...right, Taka?"

'Taka' was a huge musclehead that looked to be about 6'4. He stood up angrily, looking over to his smirking girlfriend, cracking his knuckles and snarling as he looked back to the black haired boy. He was covered in tattoos...he looked like a regular delinquent. Someone was going to have to go stop this guy before he scared all the customers off.

"Fai...go take care of that, okay?" The manager's voice whispered into his ear, touching his shoulder for a little longer than he should have. "I'll make sure to make it up to you somehow."

The blonde tried his best not to roll his eyes. First off, his manager was a balding, fat man in his late 40's. Secondly, he was also one of the people who frequently tried to keep him after hours. The willowy male had been able to avoid him so far, but it was getting harder and harder to do. He would request Fai to stay after to get some work done, and would dock his pay if he didn't. The blonde was getting backed into a corner, and fast; doing this meant that he was probaby going to get hurt...maybe bad enough to go to the hospital. Then, he could avoid the manager and his gross attitude.

"I'll be right back." Fai said, slowly approaching the kids. A fight hadn't broken out yet; a brunette was holding the black haired boy back, groaning.

"Kamui. He's just trying to rile you up. Ignore him."

"Shut the _HELL _up, Fuuma! They insulted Subaru!"

"Look, Shirou, cut the crap." The tanned man had spoken again. He was glaring at the black haired man with those angry garnet eyes. The sight honestly made Fai a little weak in the knees; he wished he had those eyes trained on him all the time, no matter what the emotion behind them was.

"What a beast!" Taka's girlfriend rolled her eyes and looked at her crew. "Shouldn't students from the Academy act better?"

"Of course they don't!" The ring leader chimed in, aiming a smile at the Kamui guy. "They don't have any talent, or the ability to recognize it. They just have money and connections. Everyone knows that no one that comes from that school actually makes it."

That made all of the kids at the tanned male's table tense, including the male himself. Fai carefully made his way closer, straining to hear what was said next. Those words belonged to the man who was holding Kamui back; his face had turned down as he struggled to say the next words, presumeably without killing the ring leader. "We are more talented than you morons will ever be."

"Oh yeah? Says Fuuma, the guy who's gone all four years of school without winning a single competition?" The ring leader and his cronies cackled, causing the brunette to blush up to the tips of his ears. "You really shouldn't try singing that Korean shit anymore. You're obviously not talented at it."

Now that comment just pissed Fai off. He was a better judge of talent than any of these kids... he knew that genre of music better than anyone else. He was about to open his mouth and say something, but surprisingly, the tanned male beat him to the punch.

"_Prove it._"

Everyone turned to look at the tanned male in shock, including Fai. He was glaring down at the other group, mouth set in a firm line. He slammed his fist on the table, causing everyone in the general vicinity to flinch. "You think we can't? Prove it." He repeated the words, sending a thrill through the blonde teen. He eagerly looked on, almost forgetting that he was supposed to be stopping this stupid fight. But how could he remember, when this person was just so...perfect? When his morals were just as good as his face? Yes, he looked like he was about to rough these guys up, but the words that he spoke were true. They were exactly what Fai would have demanded of the boys if he were apart of that sweet caramel-colored man's group.

There was also that 'Korean shit' comment. Fai happily considered his race as Korean, and he was pretty sure that they were talking about the one genre of music that he loved the most: Korean pop. The blonde's fists clenched at his side, his eyes burning with anger. He started to raise his voice to kick the offenders out...but not before they could issue their final challenge of the night.

"Fine! We will! We challenge you to a singing contest!" The girl of their group sniffed, looking at Fuuma over the edges of hot pink nails, painted by someone who obviously didn't know what they were doing. "But, since you guys have these people in your back pocket...which means that you can get them to help you out...we should pick random people from the audience to represent us."

"That's insane! How does that prove anything?" Kamui demanded, lurching forward again. He almost would have taken the girl out – Fuuma was getting more and more hesitant with his restraint.

"It proves that you know talent when you see it...even if you've never seen someone before." The girl smirked, looking so proud of herself for this juvenile conclusion. "Of course, if you're too scared...,"

"WE ARE NOT SCARED!" Kamui bellowed, growling at her. Taka took a threatening step forward, and the tanned male got in between them. Fai's heart leapt in fear as he finally got close enough to them to intervene. He was going to have to break this up somehow...but could he do that, when Taka was a flipping _giant_?! The guy had to be four times his size...but if he decided that he was going to go after the caramel-colored dream standing in front of him, the willowy blonde would wail on him with everything that he had, even if he couldn't do very much.

"Then accept our challenge." Taka's girlfriend slid her beady eyes to Fuuma and grinned at him. "What do you say, team leader?"

The brunette sighed and shook his head, moaning. "We accept your challenge. The terms are that each team picks someone from the audience, and that the audience is the judge of the winner." He looked the girl in her soulless black eyes as he said that, mouth set in a firm line. "That way, you can't say that the judges picked us because they liked us."

Flipping her coarse black hair, the girl smiled. "Perfect. We'll choose first, if you don't mind." Fai stood back and watched as they all pretended to scan the audience; Taka's eyes immediately sought someone, as though he had known the entire time who was going to be picked. He pointed to the back corner, where there was another young man...dressed for a performance.

"That's the one. Miyano, come on up here!"

The audience and the caramel-colored man's friends gasped when they heard that name. Their gazes snapped in that direction, watching his every move. Obviously, this guy was something – otherwise, he wouldn't have such a smirk on his face. This 'Miyano' ran his hand through his hair, his ice blue eyes (courtesy of contacts) locking eyes with Fuuma's kind gaze. He waved in a coy manner, winking at the other boy. "Why, Fuuma! I never thought that you would show up in a place like this!" He exclaimed, walking up to where everyone was gathered. "Especially since you lost so badly last year! Are you still even on the dance team after what happened?"

The cruel boy's remarks were getting on Fai's nerves. His mouth set in a firm line first, but then twisted into a too-sweet smile. He waltzed right on up to them, slinking along with the grace of a cat. "Why don't you boys stop fighting with one another?" He asked, ignoring the girl's short cry of outrage. "We could all just take a seat and-,"

"Scram, pretty boy." Miyano whipped around to look at him, glaring harshly. "You don't know anything about any of this."

_'Actually, I know a lot more about it than you do.' _The blonde thought angrily, his smile fully trained on Miyano. "I don't know who you think that you are, sir, but I assure you...you will be removed from this place if you continue to disturb everyone's...peace." Cursing himself for not knowing the Japanese word, Fai offered the friendly smile again. However, his words wouldn't work this time; the offender just rolled his eyes like a child, and put his hands on his hips.

"How the hell do you not know me?! I'm the rising star of JPOP! I am an extremely big deal...but I guess someone too poor to afford a television wouldn't know that. Besides, these morons have already accepted the challenge. They can't have a little boy come to their rescue anymore."

Before Fai could kill the little twerp, Fuuma's voice seeped into his ears. "...Miyano-san is right. At this point, it's best to get this challenge over with." He said, scanning the crowd for someone to pick. His face was drawn and pale; he knew that he had been set up, and now they were trapped. Miyano was apparently good or something, and they didn't know anyone's talent for sure here.

"Pick him."

Once again, the tanned male had spoken up. At the sound of that low rumble, Fai met a garnet gaze...and a strong arm gesturing towards..._himself. _His eyes widened, and his mouth dropped open, pointing at himself in shock. "...Wait...you want me?!" Fai stammered, fear and excitement accelerating his heartbeat.

"Kurogane...are you sure?" Fuuma set his mouth in a hard line. "I don't know...and we've got to choose carefully...,"

Fai blinked, realizing that 'Kurogane' was his name. _'Such a long one for someone of little words. I bet that a nice nickname would suit him better. Something impossibly cute like Kuro-min, or Kuro-rinta~,'_ He almost giggled aloud at the thought of giving such a childish name to that scary looking man, but it seemed to fit in a weird way. Well, coming from the blonde, it would fit. His old personality had been that way; flamboyantly just giving everyone pet names, always being so friendly...he didn't know if he could be like that anymore. He hadn't had to pretend to be the idol that everyone loved for awhile now...could he possibly remember everything that he had to do?

Kurogane nodded, looking at Fai with determination in those fierce, piercing eyes. "I'm sure. Trust me."

0330330330330330330330330330330330

Miyano was situated on the stage, all ready to begin his performance. The crowd was starting to get more and more rowdy, the excitement of an impromptu concert spreading through them like wildfire...except for those around Fai. They had put their heads together to try and think of a last minute strategy, leaving the blonde and Kurogane (who didn't seem to want to plan with them) to watch their rival.

Of course, the raven haired male had chosen to sit beside Fai. It hadn't even been five minutes yet, and the normally mellow blonde was as nervous as could be. He shyly tucked a lock of his hair behind his ear, trying his best to look, at the very least, cute and coy. The willowy male didn't appreciate that he had been chosen, and was still kind of upset at Kurogane for pulling him into this, but it was too late now. They hadn't let him back out, even though he'd tried multiple times. It seemed that all he could do now was try and size up the competition to see how much he was going to have to put into this.

"Why are you so tense?" The low mumble came from the raven's lips, sliding into Fai's ears. He turned his head and looked at Kurogane, shrugging.

"I'm about to go up against Mr. 'KindaABigDeal' over there. Wouldn't anyone be nervous?"

The raven locked eyes with the blonde, silencing his ability to speak. "...I guess." He said after a moment of silence. The garnet eyed male opened his mouth to say more, but he was cut off by the sound of an upbeat intro and the sound of Miyano's voice filtering through the crowd.

"_Kimi to naara...yukeru kegashita. Itsuka yumemita basho e. Tsuraku kewashii kono michi mo...kitto...kimi to futari de aruiteiku...,"_

Fai's eyes widened, and he took in a breath. _'This isn't just some guy...he's been professionally trained.' _He thought, swallowing a little bit. He sighed, watching as Miyano reached out his hand to the audience, as though pulling them into his song with his motions. He was totally serious about his music, and it showed. This guy was serious about doing well, just like...

The blonde didn't want to follow that train of thought. He sighed softly, and began to think more. No, Miyano wasn't perfect. For one, he was faking it. He wasn't trying to win the affections of the crowd...he was trying to shove his good singing in their faces. Miyano was serious, but he wasn't passionate; that was going to come back to get him someday.

No...perhaps it would come back to get him _today_.

_"Boku mo keshite tsuyoku wa nai kedo...kimi ga iru kara tsuyoku nareru n da...Ikiteru no mo warukunai to ometa n da...kimi ni aete...," _

"He's getting closer to the end now." Kurogane muttered, his eyes cutting to the side. "You think you're ready for this?"

Fai didn't necessary want to say what he was thinking right then – this was the guy that had almost recognized him, after all. From what, the blonde didn't know...but if he was correct, and this Kurogane knew who he really was, the lithe male didn't want to help him come to that conclusion. His performance would proably do enough of that all on its own. But, it wasn't as if he could just botch this up on purpose. Fai didn't want Kurogane's friends to lose to some random morons who didn't know what they were talking about. Even if he couldn't say what he was truly thinking to them, he knew that he could show them in other ways. He would help the ones who deserved it, and perhaps Kurogane would be so grateful that-

_'Focus on the present, Fai. We're not out of the woods yet.' _The blonde chastised himself, putting on a polite smile and shrugging his shoulders. "I didn't think you were the kind of person that liked J-POP, Kuro-myuu~," He said cheerfully, watching the color rise to the tanned male's cheeks as he realized what had just come out of Fai's mouth.

"What the _fuck _did you just call me?!"

"_Sesaeatte kimi to arukitai...donna kabe ga tachifusagatte mo omou yori wa! Takakunai sa futari naraba... mune wo hatte?_"

"Kuro-myuu~ It's a shorter version of your name, because your name is so loooong...,"

_"_That is the stupidest thing I've ever heard! How do you even know my name anyway?! What gave you the idea that you could call me things like that?!"

"_Itsu no hi ka ano basho e yukeru toki ga kitanara... Yorokobi wo wachiaou? Futari te wo totte...,"_

Fai shrugged playfully, winking at him. "I just listened to your friends~ and besides, I can do whatever I want. You can't realistically stop me from calling you Kuro-pyon, or Kuro-chan, or Kuro-manly, or-,"

"_Zutto, kimi to arukitai...moto habataite ikou kitto mitsukerareru kara...maywazu massugu susundeku! Zutto, kimi to arukitai, motto habatakeru hazusa! Mayowazu massugu susumeba ii sa...,"_

"We'll see who can't stop who, ya friggin piece'a-,"

"Thank you all!" Miyano's voice rang out over their little argument, signaling that it was time for Fai to take his leave. Gracefully he stood, smiling at Kurogane as he did. Playfully, he poked his shoulder, smiling brightly.

"I won't let you down, Kuro-pipi!" Fai giggled, turning before the taller male could swat him away. He heard murmurs of confusion from his friends, and muttered curses from the caramel-skinned male's own lips. The willowy man giggled again to himself, his heart fluttering in his chest. This was it; he was about to sing and dance in front of people for the first time in a year. It made him extremely nervous to even think about what he was going to do...but knowing that _Kurogane _was in the crowd, about to watch him, made his lips turn up in an excited smile. He didn't know why, but it was like those garnet eyes were anesthesia. They calmed him, made him take deep breaths...and made his heart and head feel like they were going at thousands of miles an hour, all at the same time. This was like nothing that he had ever experienced before – never had Fai been so happy from just one touch! It felt as though he could do anything...like he couldn't fail.

More importantly, it made Fai know exactly what song to sing. He went to the DJ's table, and gave Haku a small smile. "Hey there~ I'm going to sing a song today!" He said happily, grinning at the surprised look in his co-worker's eyes.

"...You let them pull you into their little game? You've never let any of the girls who pestered you do that before...,"

Fai shrugged, unable to wipe the happy grin from his visage. "I guess I finally got some initiative." He thought for a moment, going through all of the songs he could possibly perform. _'I know that I'm the best at performing KPOP...but what to choose? B2ST? BigBang? SHInee...,'_

_'Wait, SHInee...,' _Fai's eyes widened; it had come to him. About a week ago, SHINee's Taemin had come out with his first solo album – ACE. One of the two songs that had been released was called Danger...and it was perfect. That song had to be one of the blonde's favorites...though he missed seeing the youngest of SHINee with his bandmates, he had to admit that the maknae* had done pretty well for himself with this first release.

"Danger." The blonde was so ecstatic, he was nearly bouncing on his heels. He hadn't felt so energized in months from anything that wasn't caffine. He could honestly say that he was just happy. Dancing and performing had always made the lithe male happy in a way that he couldn't explain...in a different way than anything else. Now that he was doing this again, he felt _complete. _Like for once, he actually belonged somewhere.

"What was that?"

"Danger...that new one by Taemin." Fai looked at him through his bangs, a mischevious smile making its way onto his lips.

Haku raised an eyebrow, looking at the blonde like he'd just grown a second head. "...Are you sure? That's not really...something that you seem like you would sing...," He said hesitantly, putting his hands up in front of him. "No offense, but really. That's a little intense for...you."

The willowy blonde winced, pouting playfully. "Come on, Haku~ I'll do it just fine~," He whined, pulling the sad eye trump card that was always used in situations like this. "You know that I can do well...don't you? I'll be fine. Besides, you're not going to get in any trouble for what I do, so why not let me?"

Haku sighed, shaking his head. "Whatever. You make me seem like such a bad person when you say crap like that." The male ran a hand through his hair and looked through his computer, glad to see that he'd found it. "There it is. Get up there and tell me when you're ready."

Fai grinned, sauntering up to the stage. "Oh, you'll know~," He said, taking his place in the center of the circular stage. Haku just rolled his eyes, bringing up the multicolored lights. He'd used blues and purples this time, fitting with the song's dark atmosphere. The blonde appreciated it – the DJ was trying to help him as much as he could, thinking that the blonde was about to get his ass kicked. _'He has no idea...none of them do.'_ He thought, taking a deep breath and searching the crowd.

The lithe male calmed as soon as he found those garnet eyes; eyes that were looking at him in expectation, eyes that belonged to someone who was placing his hope in him. Fai gave him a small, special smile, mentally dedicating this to him. He knew that he would never see Kurogane again; he would have to treasure this in his heart, a precious melody that would keep him singing until he could finally get back on his feet again. But for now...if he sang this song as though he were singing it to the muscular male, he would be able to share something special with him without the other's knowledge. That was how Fai's feelings would take form – in the lyrics. There was a reason that the blonde had chosen this song; it wasn't just to outdo the jerks who were trying to discredit Kurogane's friends.

It was because there was a message of longing for someone to follow him into the dark.

The blonde tilted his head down, not needing a microphone for this performance. As soon as Haku saw his body stiffen, he turned up the music...and Fai let himself go.

0330330330330330330330330330330330

_"Neon cheoljeohae. Na animyeon jeoldae. Neoruel mot danghae." _

Fai didn't move for the first line. He stared out into the crowd through his bangs, voice taking a dark undertone as he purred the words. _'You're guarded. No one can take you but me.' _He thought to himself, a wicked grin twisting his usual happy-go-lucky smile. His head and body suddenly snapped, arms going straight to his sides, head moving back and forth, stepping twice both left and right. His moves were rigid, uniform; as though he were a puppet, its strings being yanked into place.

_"Cheolbyeok gateun neoui mameul...yeoreo. Unh!" _

Feet freezing in place, one arm shot behind the blonde curls, bending behind it. The other pointed directly into the crowd aggressively, accenting the pointed pause before the music started back up again.

Easily, Fai moved with the music, his body falling right back into the flow. His movements mimicked the jerky quality of the original artist, executed flawlessly even though it was unrehearsed. He was the perfect combination of sexy and dangerous; his personality was completely different on that stage than it had been a moment ago. He had literally taken on the tone of the music, injecting it into himself so that he could convey the message to the best of his ability.

_"Stay...son kkeuchi, neol ttaragan...sungan sesangeseo neman bitna!" _

Arms that had once been folded in front of the lithe body bent toward one another, and then swept back out again as he picked his foot up and slammed it against the floor, turning around. His left arm hung in the air for a moment once he had executed the turn, hanging in the air as though he were a conducter...but only for a moment. His arms were slicing through the air again, crossing in front of his chest as he bent toward the audience, before swinging back – like the wings of a plane.

_"Danger...neneun jeonbu algo isseo...oh baby yeah...," _Fai rose his right arm, the left almost trying to restrain it from rising as the lyrics of the bridge passed through his lips. There was an almost tortured look on his face as he spoke of throwing himself into the 'girl's' trap, letting her manipulate him. Falling to his knees, he clawed at the air.

_"Danger...oneulbamen oneulbamen oneulbamen oneulbamen...," _Slowly, the lithe male rose to his feet and began the complicated part of the dance. The tempo changed, making his movements rapid, desperate, sexy. He reached for the audience, roughly pulling his hands back to himself as though they would escape if he didn't...his arms moved in geometric shapes, starting at his chest and wrapping around his head, his knees drawing up and being slammed back down, coming back to his chest...

_"Danger...sarajyeoyo sarajyeoyo sarajyeoyo sarajyeyo." _

The blonde bent his right arm and put his left hand on his chin, then reversed them. Through this motion, one arm slid under the other, the thumb and index finger forming the shape of a gun. He pointed his hand right at Kurogane and pretended to fire it, that same wicked smile dancing on his lips.

Though the move only lasted about a second, it felt like time stopped for Fai. Their eyes met for one long second...and then Fai found himself moving into the next phase of the dance, loving the feel of the tanned, muscualr male's intense gaze upon him.

Fai had been just walking around, popping his clothes...but when the end came, he got a great idea. Slowly, he sauntered over...

_"Danger...oneulbamen oneulbamen oneulbamen oneulbamen...Danger...sarajyeoyo sarajyeoyo sarajyeoyo sarajyeyo."_

The blonde male sat on a stunned Miyano's lap, tilting his chin upward toward him, a look of complete and utter domination in his eyes.

The lights came back on in the bar, and for a moment, there was dead silence. Fai giggled, smiling at Miyano and backing up a little bit. "It was fun, little boy~," He said sweetly, standing and waltzing over to Kurogane. "But I think that we both know who the winner is."

The whole place burst into applause, screaming and chanting Fai's name. He closed his eyes and drank it all in, never having felt more alive than this...or well, he hadn't. Not until he felt a warm hand on his shoulder, squeezing lightly.

"You did good." A low, smooth voice said into his ear. For once, the willowy blonde could think of nothing else. He had done good...and that was all that mattered.

0330330330330330330330330330330330

The little idiots who had been making fun of Kurogane's friends left the bar with full force booing on their backs, heads bowed in shame. Miyano was just shell-shocked; he couldn't believe that he'd actually lost in anything to someone who wasn't famous. He turned to Fai just before leaving, eyes wide, and blantantly asked him the question that the blonde had been dreading for years.

"Who the hell are you?!"

There were several choices that he could have gone with. He could lie and say that he was no one, he could tell the truth...but those options sucked. Fai didn't want to say his name for fear that Miyano would recognize it; JPOP singers were more than well acquainted with the world of KPOP, and there was no doubt that the other would know exactly who the blonde was if he mentioned his name. Right now, he had to keep his identity under wraps; the person that he had been couldn't resurface.

"I'm Fai," The blonde said, shrugging. "There's really nothing more to it than that."

Miyano had growled, roughly pushing him aside as he stormed off. Fai stumbled a bit, thinking that he was about to hit the floor, but almost instantly those warm, large hands were steadying him. The lithe male wanted to close his eyes for a moment and just pretend that they were together...that he was going to take him to a nice meal after this to celebrate their first year of marriage and-

"Hey." Fuuma came up to him, smiling brightly. "You did really great up there. Like...you were amazing." The black haired boy was at his side, staring at Fai in incredulity. The wonder in those bottleglass blue eyes was very becoming; he actually didn't look like he could ever harm anyone in any way...even though Fai knew that he would have taken those guys out back and pummeled them into the ground if he could have - Kamui hadn't seemed to be much for talking things out.

"I'm just glad that I could help~" The blonde said cheerfully, grinning at him. "After all, you guys didn't deserve a word of what those mean guys said. I'm glad that we got to stick it to them a little." Fai winked, watching the mischevious grins that curved their lips.

"Without your help, we couldn't have done it." Fuuma continued, offering his hand to Fai. "I'm Fuuma, by the way; the short one beside me is Kamui, and the one behind you is Kurogane. Kazahaya is around here somewhere...I think." The spikey haired brunette sighed, shaking his head. "Anyway, I have something to ask of you. Do you mind if we keep you away from work for a minute?"

Fai shot one look back at the manager, who was eyeing him hungrily after his performance. "You know what? I think that I'm _more _than free." He said quickly, sitting down at the table that the four had been before. "Ask me anything~ and do take your time!"

"Well, as you probably heard, I'm the leader of a dance team...of sorts. We cover KPOP music for a competition every year...," Fuuma sat, cuing Kamui and Kurogane to take their seats as well. "Would you like to join us? That guy wasn't kidding when he said that we hadn't been doing so great...we've never even made it past the first round before."

This wasn't good. Fai's smile froze in place, and his mind began to shut down. He hadn't known that they were school kids... and that they were fellow dancers as well. Not to mention that contest... there would be no hiding away from the spotlight anymore. He had heard of this in Korea; the winning team got a record deal with a major label. Usually, the companies put in rookie groups to see if they could make it to the top, or put in groups that they knew would win so that they could lord them over the other labels.

"...I just...I learn the dances. I don't really perform." The willowy male smiled sheepishly, shrugging his shoulders. "I mean, I'm honestly not good, compared to some of the KPOP artists out there...it took me months to just master that dance...," He didn't like lying to these guys, but what else was there to do? If he said yes, it wouldn't take long before someone recognized him. Fai didn't have the freedom to dance again in front of people right now. It had been a year, but the people looking for him were still hot on his trail.

Fuuma's eyes widened, and his mouth dropped open. "No way. You're one of the best I've seen! You dance like a professional, and sing like one too...you perform like you've been trained or something! You can't be serious!"

Fai just shrugged his shoulders, fixing his smile in place. Mr. Nice guy never lied. "...I'm serious...," He said shyly, looking down at the table. "But thank you...you're really too nice. I was messing up all over the place." Half-truths didn't hurt as much as lies. Yes, he had been a little rusty out there, and to the untrained eye it still looked decent. But the pain in his feet and his dizziness had forced Fai to tone it down a little bit...not to mention the way that he had been completely winded after just one song had finished. He was so far out of shape that it amazed him; but he couldn't expect anything else. After all, he had told himself that he was never going to dance again.

Feeling _that gaze _on his back, the lithe male turned to look over at a certain spikey-haired noirette. Kurogane was looking at him intensely, eyes burning holes into him. The blonde blinked in confusion, not knowing what he had done to warrant that look. He laughed a bit nervously, raising an eyebrow. "Something wrong, Kuro-myuu?" He asked, playful voice only seeming to anger the man further.

Kurogane's only response was silence...and after several uncomfortable seconds, a brunette male with poofy, shoulder length hair approached the table. "Hey you guys!" He said happily, completely oblivious to the tense atmosphere between the raven and the blonde. "I saw the competition, by the way! You were awesome!" He stuck out a hand happily, grinning wide. "My name's Kazahaya. Sorry I couldn't be here to congratulate you first. I was on a call."

There was a collective groan from the table that Fai didn't quite understand, but he took the other male's hand and shook back happily. "It's nice to meet you, Kazahaya-kun~" He said softly. He opened his mouth to speak more...

"WHY THE HELL DIDN'T HE GET A STUPID NICKNAME?!"

Fai turned to grin at the fierce raven, shrugging his shoulders. "...Kaza-chan...?" The blonde offered, momentarily worrying for his health and safety. "Why does it matter, Kuro-mean? Wouldn't you rather me save the best nicknames for you?" He teased, more than aware that he was poking the metaphorical bear with a stick, but to be honest, it was kind of fun. He just grinned as the other male bowed up at him, about to rise from his chair.

"You little-,"

"Kurogane, calm down!" Kazahaya glared at him. "It's not that important!"

Fai was glad that he was not on the recieving end of the look that the aforementioned male gave the poor brunette at that point, but he knew that he would be eventually if he didn't stop. He just turned his eyes to Fuuma and...Kamui -if he wasn't mistaken- to see if he had anything else to say.

"...You've got balls, kid." Fuuma said finally, laughing. "There's never been anyone brave enough to call that hothead something like that before."

Fai smiled, shrugging his shoulders. "First time for everything...," He said softly, chuckling a little bit himself.

"So, you'll join our club, then?" The spikey haired brunette asked, looking like he'd found the key to all of his problems. The blonde flinched, realizing the hole that he had just dug himself into – now he was going to have to back track.

"...Well, I just have too much going right now...this job, and then school and all that...I need to focus on my grades...,"

"You can come to our school, Fai-kun!" Kazahaya suddenly piped up, distracted from his bickering with Kuro-pipi. "The teachers there will design your homework schedule around it...and it's supposed to be some fancy school! We can help you get in!"

The blonde really didn't want to ask, but his curiosity couldn't be contained. "...Where do you guys go to school?"

As soon as the words left Kazhaya's mouth, the small amount of hope that had risen in his chest was shattered.

"Horitsuba Academy of the Performing Arts!"

There was no way. One: it was way too expensive for a kid who was just trying to make it to school every day. Two: it was way too well known. This was one of the best performing arts schools in the nation; there was no doubt that scouts and other people who might know him would watch the academy like a hawk...and three: there would be a school full of hopefuls that wouldn't ever get to go where they were aiming for, and they would all act like they were the best in their fields.

That amount of arrogance was a pet peeve of Fai's. He had never liked the way that the kids at these rich schools acted. They didn't realize that there were people beneath them worth more than stepping over...and that these people were actually more talented. He had worked his ass off to get to where he had been, and had handed it all back. He didn't want to go to a place focused on getting to the top when it would just remind him that he could never be there again. He couldn't perform, couldn't dance...he was just stuck in life, and had no hope of ever getting out.

"...I can't. I'm sorry." Before Fai knew what was happening, he was rising out of his chair and heading back toward the break room. He felt tears choking the back of his throat, pain blossoming in his chest. It only worsened when that same, warm hand clamped down on his shoulder...the comfort it had once offered only turning to bitterness now.

"Where are you going?" Kurogane asked, voice stiffened by previous annoyance. The slight, barely detectable undertone of concern made Fai want to throw up, run away, leave before he was sucked in.

"I have to go back to work, Kuro-min~," The blonde said simply, not turning around. He tried to shake the other male off, not wanting to make a scene right here and now. "I have to go back. Will you please let me go?"

Fai didn't mean to inject that much pleading into his voice, but it worked. The hand slowly released him, and he found his feet moving forward, moving away from them. He had never felt such a strong, overwhelming desire to turn around, but he shoved it down; he didn't have the freedom to do as he chose anymore. He had thrown everything away, including the right to be with people. He just had to suck it up and move on, no matter how much it hurt.

The blonde opened the door to the breakroom, looming like a dark cavern before him, and slipped inside. The door closed behind him, and he heard the manager's voice, asking to talk to him _privately_ in his office. For a moment, Fai opened his mouth to scream and say no. But the part of him that wanted to hide, that wanted to separate himself from the world of Kurogane and his friends forever...it was so much stronger.

"Okay."

Clammy, sweaty hands wrapped around Fai's body. The willowy male closed his eyes, allowing himself to fall into the encroaching black darkness, trying not to let his memories invade his mind. He could handle what would happen tonight – what he couldn't handle was reliving every moment that had brought him to this place. That would drive him insane.


	3. Chapter Two: Smoky Boy

Hello again! I think that I updated faster this time, but there was still a good week in between updates. -.-' I do apologize for going so slow, but that's just how I roll, I suppose...I'll try to get faster as time goes on, I promise!

Anyway, any UraBoku fans out there? I just started reading it and IM IN LOVE 333 Hotsuma and Shuusei are my favorite couple as right now, with Luka and Yuki as a close second. It's just a beautiful story, and the angst gives me so much muse :3 I think that I just might be obsessed, haha...

Things You May Wanna Know:

0330330330330330330 - Means Time Passing!

I did get one lovely review! I will reply to all of those right here in this space:

**Reviews:**

**ChouRan - **I'm glad to hear that you're hooked! It makes me wanna write more :3 Here is an update! I hope that it's to your liking! *bows*

Please Review! It helps me to know more of what you are looking for and how to make the story experience better for you! To those who favorited and followed, you guys also make me write more. Every time I see those numbers, I feel like I'm actually doing something worthwhile :) Thank you all so much! Even to you who are just reading and trying to see where this goes before making a decision...I know that you're there, and I'm so grateful that you chose to read my story! Please continue to support me as I go through this journey with you!

_Chapter Quote Credit - _"A Tale of Two Cities", Charles Dickens (one of my favorite novels of all time)

Have a good week, everyone! I hope to see you back here again soon! ^.^

* * *

_'I wonder how Kuro-puu is doing,' _The blonde thought to himself, adjusting the strap of his bag. He wanted to get in and get some groceries tonight. With the extra money that he was making from his...side activities at his job, he had recently been able to actually eat more than ramen this week – more than he'd had since Fai had moved to Japan.

To be honest, going and doing that mock singing battle had been the best thing that had ever happened to him. He'd never thought that he would earn a promotion at a karaoke bar, but as soon as he'd agreed to be the manager's friend with benefits, he was starting to actually make some money. By doing some special favors and using his _talents, _Fai had been able to get the man to start paying him at least double his last salary. Hopefully, by the time that the man realized what it truly was, the lithe male would be long gone – somewhere that he could go to a better school, and get a better job. The only problem was that he couldn't put this manager down as a reference; there wouldn't be anything worse than the guy actually finding him when he was supposed to be far, far away.

Fai hummed happily to himself as he stood in the grocery line, trying to ignore the slight soreness in his hips, the way that his whole body just seemed to hurt nowadays. He was often up late at night, trying to earn some extra money, and his new bedmate didn't take his own personal needs into consideration. But, as there wasn't anyone else exactly lined up to pay him as good of a salary in the manager's place, he was stuck for the moment. The difference between now and then was that he was eventually going to be free...he just needed a little more money, and he would be there.

_'Soon, I might even be able to afford a scooter...I can work almost anywhere I want to when I have that!' _The willowy male almost giggled aloud at the thought, excitedly plucking some cans of vegetables from the grocery store shelves. His life was finally starting to go somewhere, and it was all thanks to those awesome Academy kids.

If Fai was being honest, he knew that he missed that caramel-skinned raven. Kuro-myuu had been something special, something that he didn't always see in this mundane life. He missed sitting next to that muscly form, gazing into those intense garnet eyes. He missed everything that was Kurogane...but he knew that he couldn't see him again. That would mean purposely seeking that school out, and he knew that he wouldn't be able to resist if he was caught by them again. The idea of getting to dance was just too tempting.

As soon as Fai had gathered all of his groceries, he went up to the front of the line. It didn't seem like he was spending everything he had to eat anymore – now, with these extra funds, he would have no trouble paying the rent, his tuition, and for anything else that needed fixing. He knew that he had to save most of it, but he couldn't help thinking about renovating the house, making it look nice for anyone who happened by. That notion was silly – there really weren't many people who came to visit, but the ones who did deserved something nice.

_'Especially if a certain _someone _decided to happen my way sometime,'_ The blonde thought, laughing to himself. It was a silly idea, to believe that he would find the raven again someday and possibly get to know him a little better, but there was no harm in playing make believe. If it got him through those horrible nights with the manager, then he would allow himself to dream.

Fai hated the nasty way that his body responded to such a repulsive man. He hated the way that he would feel when everything was over, like a used towel. He _especially _hated that the man made love – he was as rough and demeaning as possible, thinking that the blonde must really enjoy calling Fai a 'dirty whore'. He didn't know what love was; he didn't know how to properly make it to anyone. It made him nauseous even thinking about it, but it was a way to make more money. The job only made enough to barely cover his butt each month. If the blonde had to do some 'night work' to make ends meet, then he just had to. It didn't matter what it was.

At least...that's what he told himself.

When Fai was up late at night with that man, he just thought of the raven. It was all he could do to keep himself from drowning in despair all night long. He imagined that it wasn't the disgusting pig above him; that it was Kurogane, treating him like he should have been treated, loving him as no one else could. That was what brought him to completion; if Fai didn't have Kurogane for inspiration, he wouldn't have ever been able to finish. Forty-something year old, obese men were definitely not the blonde's type.

The willowy male quickly made his way through the line and prepared to make the twenty minute walk back to his place. He stepped outside of the brightly lit grocery store and took in the sky, wincing when he saw how dark it was. Bad things happened when the sun set around here...Fai didn't like to be anywhere but his apartment when the sun went down. Yakuza, kidnappings, rapes...anything bad that could happen did happen, and often he had to hear awful noises as he drifted off to sleep.

This neighbrohood wasn't the best, but Fai called it home. He'd been living here for the better part of a year now, and he was starting to get to know his way around. Now that he was entertaining his manager, he found that a lot of people were being nicer to him; the guy was ugly and balding, but he did have some pretty powerful connections. That was why the lithe male had to bide his time – when he left, he was going to have to get far away from here. There was no telling who would show up to drag him back.

Thinking about these things didn't help as the blonde continued walking home that night. He sighed, gripping his bags as he hoped and pleaded that no one would approach him. Every noise was someone lunging to mug him; every shadow someone tailing him from behind. Before he knew it, Fai had worked himself into a frenzy, his heart beating hard and his palms sweating rivers. He was so sure that he was being followed, that as soon as he stopped something was going to jump out and get him.

_'Please let this be my imagination. Please just let me get home safely.' _The lithe male thought, shutting his eyes and continuing to walk, replaying this mantra over and over in his head. _'Please, please, please...,' _

It was then that Fai heard the footsteps behind him; in a terrified craze, he kept walking, heart pounding almost painfully against his ribs.

There was a park up ahead. In the daylight, it was a peaceful place – children came here to play, and mothers would keep a watchful, wary eye on them. He liked to eat lunch here sometimes, or skip school here. It was a nice place to just kick back and relax. But, in the dark, when no one was here...it was completely different. It was a monster's haunt, filled with black shapes, unrecognizeable in the darkness. Fai headed right toward it, back straight and hands clenched, thinking that he would somehow loose them in the park.

The steps began to speed up. Fai could hear the sounds of breathing behind him. This person obviously wasn't trying to stalk him, or be subtle about their presence. They were coming for him, and judging by the sound, he didn't have much time to get away. He needed to come up with a plan – and fast.

Still continuing on his path, the willowy blonde decided that it was best to just start running at this point. He started at a slight jog at first, but soon was sprinting at full force, barreling right through the abysmal park. _'If I can just make it...if I can just get to the other side, I'm practically home. I'll just have to run up the stairs...or maybe to the manager's office...,' _The terrified blonde thought, his body in a frenzy as he burst through the park.

Fai's assailant was suddenly much closer than they had been a second ago. He tried as hard as he possibly could to keep going, but he wasn't in shape anymore – he had never been that great of a runner anyway. His body was failing, that he couldn't go on like this much longer. He whimpered in defeat, petrified at whatever was going to befall him...

"Dammit, you moron! Slow the fuck down!"

The blonde blinked, realizing that this person had been shouting at him the entire time...and he had just been blocking it out. What was more was that he recognized that voice from somewhere, he just couldn't remember exactly...

A warm hand took its rightful place on his shoulder, and Fai just _knew. _

"Kurogane...?!"

0330330330330330330

The tanned male glared down at Fai, not even slightly winded by the run that had exhausted the skinny blonde. "Why the hell were you running? Is someone after you?" He asked roughly, looking around the area.

"...Y-you scared me, Kuro-pon...I thought that you were a bad person chasing after me...," The willowy male said softly, looking up at him. He felt like he had been rescued...even though the thing that he had been rescued from was nothing more than a delusion. He couldn't help but feel like he had just wished Kurogane into existence...or that the male had heard his desperation somehow and come to save him, like a knight in shining armor...

Though, if we were talking about Kurogane here, it was more like a badass ninja from a manga.

"Why would you think that?" The caramel-skinned male asked gruffly, stepping closer.

_"_I'm not fond of being outside after nightfall, Kuro-myuu~ that's all!"

"You're gonna have a lot more to be scared about if you keep calling me those stupid nicknames." The male glowered, fisting his hand in Fai's shirt. "You'd better stop."

The pale blonde felt like he should have been scared. Here he was, being physically threatened by a man in a dark, scary place...but he'd never felt so safe. "You wouldn't hurt me." He said, absolutely certain. Cerulean and garnet met in that moment, combining in two separate gazes and intwining themselves into one. "You like me too much for that~,"

"Like you?!" The male scoffed, but released the blonde. "I don't even know you. How could I like you?" He asked angrily, huffing like an enraged bull. "You're just an ass."

That hurt a little bit, but Fai would do his damndest not to show it. "I don't know you, so how could you already dislike me so much?" He asked curiously, looking up at him with bright eyes. "Did I do something to make you angry?"

The look that the blonde got in return for that statement was so fierce, it nearly sent him to his knees. "What did you do?! You walked out on us is what you did! Fuuma was actually asking for some much-needed help, ya damn idiot! He needs someone who knows what they're doing to help him, but you just completely ignored that!"

_'Oh.' _Fai thought, trying to keep his face from twisting in displeasure. He had completely forgotten about them...all that mattered to him was the person standing before him now. "...I'm sorry?" He asked, only succeeding in making Kurogane even angrier.

"Sorry doesn't help anyone, dammit! You should actually try joining them!"

"And what if I don't want to, Kuro-chan? What if I just want to have a good time every once and awhile?" The blonde smirked at him, walking closer. "I didn't sign up to be your friends' show pet for life. I signed up to help him, at that moment, when he needed it. And if that's not enough, then that's not my problem~," The tone was cheerful enough, but he could see the sting of his words in Kurogane's eyes. He didn't like being like this...Fai wanted to be the friendly, happy blonde that everyone wanted him to be.

But on the inside, he wasn't sure that the carefree, good time guy everyone liked actually existed.

_"_Then that makes you a coward." Kurogane spat, his fists clenched, eyes boring into him. "You know that you are good – no one who doesn't know that can perform like you did! Yet you're not going to help someone out who really needs it? What are you using your talent for? Who is benefiting from it?!"

"No one, Kuro-bun, and that's for the best." Fai said softly, looking away. "No one can benefit from it. And the sooner your friend realizes that, the better."

Hands were suddenly gripping small shoulders, dark fingers gripping the milky white skin that Fai's shirt didn't cover.

"What the hell are you so afraid of?! Why are you so scared that you can't even try?!"

Fai tilted his head down, wheat gold bangs falling in front of his eyes. He knew that there was a way to answer this question that would shut him up...but he decided that it was better not to. The blonde placed his hand on the other male's chest, and as soon as he knew he could handle himself, he looked up. "Let go of me, Kuro-myuu~ you'll make someone think that you're a bad person."

There was no diverting the taller male. "Answer the question, dammit. Why are you so _scared_?"

Roughly as possible, Fai shoved the tanned male back. Kurogane's grip slackened on his shoulders, and that was the opening that the blonde needed. He slipped away quickly, snatching his fallen bags and making a break for it as fast as he possibly could. This time, the raven didn't follow; instead, his attention was diverted by something on the ground that had fallen out of the blonde's many grocery bags.

The blonde never noticed; he just didn't stop until he was completely inside his apartment again, dry heaving against the door. He sank to his knees, a pile of bags and limbs, and put his face in his hands.

"I don't know...," He panted, desperately trying to get his breath back. "I just...I just don't know...,"

0330330330330330330

Things had been quiet for the last week, leaving Fai shocked and a little disappointed. He had figured out that he'd dropped his school ID when he had fled from Kurogane as soon as he'd gotten control of himself that night; ever since, the blonde had been dreading (more like anxiously awaiting) the time when Kurogane would make his way over to confront him again.

But that day hadn't come.

To be honest, the willowy male had halfway hoped that he would be able to see Kurogane again. He had really, really wanted the male to swoop in and save him from all this disaster, or maybe carry him away to his magical kingdom where the sun never set and happiness never ended, but that obviously was not going to happen. Real life wasn't a fairy tale – it was anything but. This dull, boring reality was just the cards that Fai had been dealt. Try as he might to change his hand, it would always stay the same.

At the moment, said blonde was in his Literature class, typing a paper up on one of the computers. He didn't even read the book that they were supposed to be analyzing; he didn't know what he was going to do. He just figured that he would kind of wing it somehow, make it pretty and filled with meaningless words, and flunk the grade. It was alright; Lit was one of his best subjects. He just didn't have any time to do the reading right now because of his situation at work. There was no way that he could explain what he was up to all hours of the night, so he'd just have to pretend that everything was fine. After all, he really wasn't supposed to have a part-time job anyway...he didn't want to get in trouble. This was the only school that he could afford; anything more, and he would be drowning in bills like he had been before he'd agreed to be the manager's bedmate.

_'Just a little more money, and a little more time. I'll be out of here. Maybe I can stay a little longer to afford college. He would probably pay it for me if I could turn it into some kind of bedroom entertainment...Izawa-san's naughty student...,' _

The male sighed aloud, not really wanting to think about that at the moment. He was already pressed for time as it was; this whole 'friend with benefits' thing was really starting to take its toll on him. It wasn't that he hated it...well, okay, he hated it, but Fai had no other choice. He was getting paid extremely well for a prostitute, and he wasn't about to compromise his situation. No, he needed this money. There were no other jobs that he could find that would take someone without a high school diploma...or that would take him in for his 'nighttime activities' with minimal risk of disease.

Or it hadn't...until Izawa had suggested that he bring some of his friends tonight. Fai had no idea what that meant, but he was sure that he wouldn't like it. But, what other choice did he have? There was no way that he could just take tonight off. The manager would get really angry at him, and probably stop paying him; that was the way this 'job' was – turnover rate was extremely high if you didn't follow the boss' exact orders, didn't give pleasure to his every whim.

The only thing that got Fai through was the promise that, someday, he would be out of this hellhole and somewhere where he could leave all of this pain behind.

Sensei's voice brought the blonde back to the present. "Alright, everyone. Time's up on the _Brave New World _papers. I want you to get your _Tale of Two Cities _books and turn to chapter five."

The willowy male did as asked; he took out the well-worn paperback (only a couple yen at a used bookstore – apparently, not even the library wanted this poor, abused thing) and flipped to the correct page. This being the only book that he had, he'd read it many times and was well familiar with this chapter. _'The Jackal,' _The male thought to himself, directing his eyes back to the podium where his sensei stood with her own copy in hand. _'How ironic.' _

"Surely someone did the reading last night." A chorus of boo's echoed through the room, and the teacher rolled her eyes. "Did _anyone_ actually read the book?"

Fai's hand seemed to go up on its own. Shocked, he realized too late that he couldn't undo this action; he made a great habit to never participate in class. He didn't want anyone focusing attention on him, or the sound of his voice. It was a bad idea to start having people prying into your life, your background. He'd barely had enough information to satisfy the school upon his entry here; having to make up enough to satisfy people who actually cared about you would be too much trouble.

"Flourite-kun?" Sensei looked hopeful; all the lithe blonde could do was sigh softly, stand up, and gave a small summary, hoping it woudl be enough to placate her.

"You see Sydney Carton in more depth...see his relationship with the lion, Mr. Stryver, and why he's called the jackal." Fai shrugged his shoulders, looking down at the yellowing pages of his novel. Sydney Carton...the blonde hated him. Reading about him, hearing about him, the whole nine yards. He much preferred Charles Darnay, the one who had it all together, and who got the girl in the end. He didn't care about Carton at all, actually; Fai believed that he deserved to die because there was nothing else for him to do. He was useless, only good for being a sacrificial lamb for those that claimed to love him.

"Very good, Fluorite-kun," The teacher said, turning her attention to the board behind her. "The jackal. The one behind the lion, who could be the true king of beasts if he really wished to be. Does anyone know why...,"

The teacher's voice faded, and Fai sat back down, staring out the window. He knew all the answers to this, and to be quite honest, he really didn't want to hear it. This Literature class took books from all sorts of cultures and languages. He would never understand why _Tale of Two Cities_ was on this list; it was an English classic, but they could have read _Jane Eyre_, or _The Canterbury Tales_, or anything else. Perhaps even another work by Charles Dickens – but why did this have to be the book?

Every time Fai heard this story, it all came rushing back to him...

_"I wish you to know that you have been the last dream of my soul...," _

The blonde closed his eyes, trying to keep the pain from appearing on his face. Why now? He was in school; he couldn't think about this right now! _'Stop it...please, stop it...,' _He thought, pale fists clenching in his lap. Nothing he said would stop it...his mind wasn't listening to him. The sweet words and lost nights just kept coming back to him, those dark, bottleglass blue eyes flashing to the forefront of the lithe male's mind.

" _And yet I have had the weakness, and have still the weakness, to wish you to know with what a sudden mastery you kindled me, heap of ashes that I am, into fire." _

That low voice had whispered such things to him in the darkest parts of the night, purred them against his skin. With every syllable, _he _had stolen a little more of Fai's soul...had drawn him in deeper and deeper. He was falling; falling back into the longing, the hope, the terror...it was taking over him again. He knew if he didn't leave right now, he was going to have another one of those episodes, but he couldn't...he had no escape. With a shudder of terror, Fai realized that the darkness was coming. It was unstoppable; there was nothing he would do. Soon, the shaking would start...and shortly after, the tears, maybe the screaming. He'd been through this several times by himself, and he knew just how terrified of himself he became. What was going to happen here, in this classroom full of kids who barely knew him?

_'Please...a little longer...just let me hold on a little longer...,' _The male pleaded with himself, but it was to no avail; he could already feel the trembling in his hands. One of his episodes was coming, the thoughts swirling around in his mind no matter how hard he tried to shove them down.

_"...Since I knew you, I have been troubled by a remorse that I thought would never reproach me again, and have heard whispers from old voices impelling me upward, that I thought were silent for ever. I have had unformed ideas of striving afresh, beginning anew, shaking off sloth and sensuality, and fighting out the abandoned fight. A dream, all a dream, that ends in nothing, and leaves the sleeper where he lay down, but I wish you to know that you inspired it." _

The words echoed in Fai's mind, bringing tears to his eyes. _'No...please, not now...not now, not now, not-,' _

There was a loud crash as the door was rudely slammed open, shattering his thoughts completely.

The entire class flinched, their eyes flashing to the front of the room. It took only a moment for the blonde to identify the two clowns that had just walked into his classroom; with horror, he realized that they were some of those kids from the karaoke bar...Kazahaya and...Fuuma, if he wasn't mistaken.

"E-excuse me, you two! What in the world do you think you're doing?!" Sensei demanded, glaring at them with intense hatred. "You can't just barge into a classroom whenever you feel like it! Go back wherever the heck you came from _this instant!_"

Fuuma's eyes found Fai's...and in an instant, everything that the blonde had worked so hard for seemed to collapse right in front of him. He pointed to the blonde and grinned, giving him a small wink.

"Sorry, Sensei. This one's coming with us."

0330330330330330330

"Why are you guys here...?" Fai asked, both of his arms captured by the males on either side of him as he was quite literally _dragged _down the hallway. "You know, this kind of thing is frowned upon! Aren't you worried that someone's going to call the police?"

Kazahaya sent him a wink in reply, shrugging his shoulders.

"You know, that was a lot easier than I thought it was going to be~ as soon as she found out that we were from the Academy, she just relinquished you." Fuuma stated cheerfully, turning the corner to the main hallway. "We thought that it was going to be a lot tougher to get you out...but then again, we wouldn't have had to resort to such extreme measures if you hadn't tried to avoid us for so long!"

The blonde sighed, figuring that they were heading for the main office. "You know, in most countries, the word 'no' does count as a valid answer." He said, looking up at them with a tired look in his eyes. "I would really appreciate it if you let me go back to class now.

"Unfortunately, it's not an answer when you're dealing with us." Kazahaya pulled the glass door open, pulling up on his arms with Fuuma so that the skinny blonde could stand up straight. "Besides, what's the harm? Won't you just hear Yuuko-san out first?"

"...Yuuko-san?" Fai asked hesitantly, straightening up and stretching his sore muscles. He wasn't sure that he wanted to meet anyone else from this crazy school – the blonde liked a good spectacle now and then, but he certainly didn't want to be apart of it. These people were insane, possibly more insane than he was...and that was saying something.

Looking around nervously, the lithe boy looked around. His only exit was through the glass door, which Fuuma and Kazahaya were now guarding. They both pointed ahead to the main principal's office in a fluid movement, perfectly timed and exactly the same. Fai rose his eyes in surprise; yes, these people were serious about group dancing. Only people who had trained together for hours could do something like that on a whim...those who knew each other better than they knew themselves.

_'If things were different...maybe I'd actually tell them that I could be with them...,' _The male thought sadly, turning to face his fate in the principal's office. He shuffled forward into the small, cramped room, trying to keep his eyes on the ground. He wanted to look as innocent and victimized as possible; hopefully someone would recognize that these guys were insane, and set him free!

There were already two people in the office; one was the principal, a frumpy looking old woman who always seemed out of sorts...and a very sleek, professional young woman with long black hair, wearing stylish street clothes. The unknown woman smiled at him, her eyes holding a mischevious, curious light in them. "Well, hello there, D'Fluorite-san." She said softly, offering her hand to him. Her voice was low, warm, and strangely enchanting – it was all the poor blonde could do to offer his hand, trying not to stare too long into her gaze.

_'It's like she can stare into my soul...,' _The male thought, trying to suppress the shiver that ran down his spine. "It's a pleasure." He said, not knowing where he found the words. "Do your students always drag people out of their classrooms?"

"Only when the person getting dragged isn't smart enough to take them up on their offer the first time they make it." The woman replied, not missing a beat. Fai felt his face color in embarassment, though he wasn't sure why. He stared back at her, trying to surprise the rising tide of annoyance welling up in his chest.

"...Yuuko-san, correct?" Fai asked, waiting for a nod from the woman to continue. "I am in a situation right now where I cannot possibly join this group. I understand that Fuuma-kun is in a bit of a bind here, but I honestly would not be of any help-,"

"Oh, I know about that." Yuuko smiled, studying her nails. "I am prepared to offer you a change of situation. Away from a certain Izawa-san, if you know what I mean."

Fai's blood ran cold. He stared at the woman, immediately giving her a strained smile; it was the only cover he could run and hide behind at a moment's notice. For the first time since he'd come in, his own principal spoke up. "I've been notified that you're not in the most wholesome living arrangement at the moment, D'Fluorite-kun. Because of that...I've been notified that we cannot accept you at a private institution, considering that you don't have any guardians that you can go to stay with on record." She actually looked concerned for once, though it was most likely just an act. "Yuuko-san here is prepared to offer you a nice place to stay and a great education. I recommend taking her up on her offer."

Fai turned his eyes back to the mysterious woman, not sure how to respond. He had thought that he had been extremely careful with this whole thing; he'd never let on that anything was wrong with the people from the Academy, or those at his school. _'How the hell did they find out?! How did anyone know about this?! And, if she already knows about that...what else does she know?' _He thought, feeling the panic beginning to close in on him. He had to get out of here before she revealed too much...

"All I am asking is a fair trial of our instiution, D'Fluorite-kun." Yuuko-san fixed him with her stare and came close enough to put a hand on his shoulder. Instead of frightening him further, this seemed like a gesture of...friendship. It was almost motherly in a way, mentor-like. "I just want to help out Fuuma-kun and you at the same time. If you would just come and see what he has to offer, it really would mean a lot."

Fai wanted to say yes. He wanted to say yes more than he had wanted anything in a long time. But there was just too much...there was no way that he could. He couldn't go back to that world again. He couldn't allow himself to return to something that had nearly destroyed him before.

"I...I just-,"

"You don't have to join."

Fai turned his head to see the aforementioned male standing in the doorway, running a hand through his spiky brown hair. "You know, you just have to see what we can do. That's all I'm asking for."

"Asking? I wasn't aware that we were taking no for an answer." Yuuko-san's voice was eerily cheery for her words. "Fate has come calling for you, Fai D'Fluorite. There's no stopping it when it arrives."

The mysterious woman's red eyes fixed him with an impenatrable stare; Fai found that it was impossible to look away. It was impossible to do so many things right now – including escape from this trap. Sighing, he realized that he was cornered; it was time to admit defeat and do what they wanted. _'After all, he said that I didn't have to join,' _He thought, closing his eyes. _'Maybe this is only a temporary thing...,' _

"I'm sending Kazahaya-kun and Fuuma-kun with you to pack your things." Yuuko-san was already leaving, waving at them as she exited the office. "I expect you to be on campus at four o'clock! Not a moment later!"

Kazahaya muttered something about the teacher missing her appointment with her favorite sake salesman under his breath, and Fuuma chuckled. The principal was trying to get Yuuko-san to wait, running out the door after her...but Fai was barely aware of any of it. All he could think was that he had just dug himself into a giant pit, one that he had no hope of getting himself out of. He was screwed, and it was all his fault. There was nothing he could do now but go to this place and hope that he could lie low enough for no one to find him until he could jump on a plane to America.

"Oh, and we were told to give this back to you." Fuuma was putting something in Fai's hand. The blonde lifted his slender fingers to see his school ID nestled between them. His eyes widened, remembering the night when he'd lost it. His eyes went back to Fuuma, who was grinning like a fool.

"Kurogane said you'd probably want it back." The brunette shrugged, looking to Kazahaya and then back to Fai. "You guys ready to go get the stuff packed up?"

The lithe blonde nodded, pocketing the small card. It was still warm, as though it held some of the raven's burning energy...as though there were still a part of him in it. _'He cared enough about Fuuma to send him my way,' _Fai thought, sighing softly. _'He really is the kindest person I've ever met...,' _

0330330330330330330

Three hours later, Fai was standing in what was to be his new home for at least the next semester. To be honest, this was his worst nightmare – he was going to share the room with two other people, at least one that he didn't know, because there was an overflow of rooms. Normally, having to share with just one other person was bad enough; they didn't know about the episodes, the nightmares...it wasn't like Fai could never sleep again, but he was going to have to try not to for as long as possible. It wasn't like his bad dreams were going anywhere; not when they were about things that he could never, ever forget.

"I know it's not gonna be very spacious for awhile...but it's uh, comfy." The blonde turned to see the unknown of his two roomates: Syaoran. Fai was rooming with Fuuma and he for the moment. While they seemed to be nice enough, he still wasn't all that comfortable. There was the people thing, and the fact that he was going to have to sleep on a cot in the corner until they could find him a room. There was no telling when he would have his own private bed to sleep in...when he could actually have a place to put his things. It wans't like he had much – Kazahaya and Fuuma had been ready to empty the apartment, but they'd only really needed two gallon-size trash bags. Right now, the cot was crammed against them in Fai's corner – not the best living arrangement, but it was all he could do.

"It looks very nice, Syaoran-kun," Fai gave him a small smile, laying out the red and gold uniform that he'd been issued at registration on the bed. As promised, he'd been given a full scholarship to the Academy, meal plan and lodging completely paid for. Apparently, the lithe male wasn't the only one who was here on scholarship; there were a few others, though he hadn't been told who they were. It made him feel a little better...but not much.

The boy with the emerald green eyes nodded, his neat brown hair catching the light of the setting sun. "Um...I guess you should go ahead and get changed, and we'll show you around the place a little bit." He suggested, shrugging his shoulders. "Bathroom's over here...,"

Fai nodded in thanks, and disappeared into the bathroom, snatching up the clothes and hugging them tightly to his chest. He shut the door softly and began to change, sighing as the foreign material of the uniform brushed against his skin. It was a rather simple uniform; yellow dress shirt with a red blazer and matching pants. The shirt was supposed to be worn tucked, but he decided to leave his shirttail out; he'd seen several students doing the same around the campus, so it couldn't have been a very strict rule.

The boy looked in the mirror once he was done, wincing at his reflection. He looked like death warmed over – too pale, huge bags under his eyes. He looked like shit; no wonder his new principal had found out about his nighttime activities!

_'Just pull it together, Fai,' _The male thought, taking a deep breath. _'It's going to be okay. You'll get through this somehow. You've just got to try and put _him _behind you-,' _

"KAMUI, YOU SONUVA BITCH!"

The shout thundered down the hall, scaring the beejeezus out of the male. He ripped open the door to find that Syaoran was already in the hallway, shouting something else back at whoever was yelling. Confused, Fai made the mistake of stepping outside of the protection of his room – he didn't register the panicked yell of his name before something warm and very hard slammed into him.

Before the blonde knew what was happening, he smacked into the floor, head cracking on the hard marble. He felt a vauge sensation for a moment, like he was falling...

"Shit...oh, shit...,"

Fai had heard that voice before. He was sinking fast, but not fast enough to miss the flustered sound of the raven. "Shit...oi! Are you okay?! HEY! ANSWER ME!"

The lithe male smiled weakly before the pain drew him under, his body sinking into much-needed sleep.


	4. Chapter Three: To Lie

Hello everyone! Sorry for the really late update - I have a few tests this week, so unfortunately studying had to come before writing x.x This chapter is also a little shorter, but it is a transition chapter. ^.^ I figured that you'd rather get to the better stuff faster ;) So you're welcome~

I know that I always go on about things that I've just discovered here...but any Free fans? I just started seriously watching that along with UraBoku...all of the shounen ai, I know :P It's a good series! It got a bunch of crap, which was why I didn't watch it...but I really do like it ^.^ I don't know who my favorites are yet, but I definitely like Haruka the most xD

Also, any Persona 4 fans? I just love that game to pieces 3 The anime was actually pretty awesome, too! It stayed really close to the game - I liked that. ^.^

Things that You May Wanna Know:

0330330330330330330330330 - Means Time Passing~

_Things in Italics are flashbacks. _

_'Things that look like this are thoughts' _

I'm also trying to learn HTML script xD It's confusing...if anyone has any tips on how to get it all straight, I'd love to hear it!

**Review:**

**Guest - **Thank you for the review! Yes, we got that moron out of the way pretty fast :P If I told you what happened, you wouldn't read! Guess you'll just have to stay tuned~ ^.^

I think that's everything! Thank you guys for reading, but please leave reviews! They are much appreciated :3

Have a great week, everyone! I'll see you next update~

* * *

_Beautiful. Everything was beautiful. The warmth of the sun kissed Fai's cheeks, his closed eyelids, his lips; he didn't want to open his eyes, didn't want this bliss to end. He smiled, hearing a low hum from something beside him, something warm, solid...alive. Fingertips grazed over his cheeks, his closed eyes, stopping and resting on his lips. _

_"Beautiful." That low rumble sent blood rushing to the blonde's cheeks. The familiar voice sent a thrill through his body; whether it was of fear or pleasure, he couldn't tell. Craning his neck back, Fai found himself looking into that man's eyes once again, eyes of dark blue, a stormy ocean that he could drown in. _

_The blonde lifted trembling fingers to his chest, slowly tracing the well-muscled contours. They were wrapped in soft white sheets together, legs tangled together, touching almost everywhere they could touch. This man held him close, almost like a mother with her child; like the blonde was precious, wanted...beautiful. _

_"Ashura...," Fai whispered, hearing soft birdsong and the thrum of the other male's heartbeat. The white, the warm sunlight, the breeze blowing the billowing white curtains around them toward the opened French doors relaxed him, made him brush his lips along the bared chest before him, sighing in content. _

_Never did the blonde feel afraid or cornered. He didn't want to run and hide. This was how he knew that he had to be dreaming; never in the years of their relationship had he felt so loved, so safe. _

_"This isn't real," He whispered, pulling away from the warmth, the love, the light. Ashura's eyes grew cold, his eyes dark and angry. Fai's heart sped up in tempo; he started to scoot back, looking for the edge of the bed so he could get up and run. He was arrested by the sheets – once sources of comfort were now binds that wrapped around his limbs, holding him in place. _

_Through it all, Ashura smiled and watched, a marble angel of wrath grinning cruelly as Fai thrashed, the binds only growing tighter around him. Fingers cold as death gently reached for the blonde's pale skin, stroking him lovingly. "You can never escape," The black haired male said, inching ever closer. "You will always be mine...all mine...," _

_The blonde recoiled, a scream building up in his throat, released at the very moment that their lips touched- _

"NO!"

Fai shot straight up out of the bed, a tremor running through him. Bending over, he clutched at his chest, gulping down air; it felt like he couldn't breathe fast enough to calm his racing mind and body. He was trembling all over, eyes wide as he tried to get his bearings. He didn't know where he was...the room was dark, dark and unfamiliar. _'Where am I?' _He thought, panicking more as his mind grasped for an answer that just was not there. _'Did he find me? I knew it was going to happen, I knew that it was a bad idea...he's found me, he's found me...!' _

Fear was coursing through the slim male's mind, heightening his senses and drowning out any reason that had once been with him. Looking down to make sure that he was not bound to the bed where he had been sleeping, he nearly jumped off the bed, trying to reach the door. However, the mind was willing but the body not able; a dull throbbing in his head was enough to make him dizzy, to send him to his knees as pain beat against the walls of his skull.

Fai hissed in pain, holding his head. "Ah...ow...!" He said softly, cursing under his breath. What the hell had happened to him? Had he been knocked out and kidnapped?

The door opened, sending light that brutally stabbed his eyes, making the pain even worse. Fai moaned, curling up more, willing the sharp ache in his head to go away. He didn't even register that someone was there now, staring at him in mild fear, trying to figure out what the hell the blonde was doing on the floor.

"Um...are you okay?"

The slim male raised his head to see familiar waves of shining black hair, glossy sapphire colored eyes widened by surprise as they studied him. Fai whimpered, shaking his head. This person...they were 'Kamui', if he remembered correctly – if he could think for one moment past this pain in his head. "...I'm fine...," The blonde replied, trying to force a smile past his gritted teeth.

The male above Fai scowled, grabbing his arm and roughly yanking him up into a standing position. "Don't give me that crap, you ass. I'm here to make sure you're okay, and you had better _damn well _tell me the truth if you're not. _Do you understand? _"

Fai blinked in surprise, not really processing what he had just been told. This Kamui kid could apparently see past him, and so easily too...though it was probably because the blonde's head was killing him, not that his mask had any flaws. He'd been perfecting his poker face for years, and there had never been anyone that could see past him. Not even the man who haunted him in his dreams ahd been able to detect any of the blonde's true feelings. He had fallen for the facade as had Fai's parents, his brother, and even those who had been with him for years. No one could break into his lonely, self-imposed cage, and the slim male told himself that he liked it better that way. He didn't want anyone coming in and trying to solve him. He would rather be left alone, where he wouldn't hurt anyone.

Kamui began dragging him back to the bed, apparently not caring that his motions might cause the patient more harm. Fai hissed in pain as he was forcefully pushed onto the soft surface; he was about to tell this boy just where he could put his rude behaviour...when the black haired male suddenly stepped back and looked at him. If Fai didn't know any better, he could have sworn that, in this male's eyes there was a great amount of what looked like...fear?

Fai straightened up a little bit, looking at the other curiously. Though his head was still pounding (no thanks to Kamui-kun, he might add), he did his best to straighten and at least look like he wasn't about to black out. "Kamui-kun?" He asked, looking over at the frightened noirette, "Is something wrong?"

"...," At first, the only answer was silence. There were several emotions that crossed the shorter male's face...frustration mostly, with a touch of anger and an undercurrent of fear that seemed to be present at all times. When he finally raised his eyes to look over at the blonde again, there was an air of something else...but Fai couldn't name this one. Whatever it was, it was making Kamui-kun visibly uncomfortable; he wouldn't stop fidgeting with his sleeves and looking at the tiled floor, as though an answer to the question at hand could be found there.

Finally, the boy just opened his mouth and asked. "...You're not gonna...die, are you?"

Fai just stared for a solid minute, his mouth hanging slightly ajar. During that time, the other blushed furiously, smacking his hand against the wall. "I-I'm not a dumbass! I wanted to be sure because Fuuma told me to make sure you didn't get any worse! I don't give two shits about what you think!"

That only made it worse. The blonde male thought that he could hold it in, but a giggle slipped through his best attempts to hold it in. He tried to laugh quietly, but Kamui-kun heard it nonetheless. His face turned almost three shades redder at the sound, and the embarassment spilled openly across his features erased what was left of the humor in the situation. "Kamui-kun-," Fai began, but was cut off by the sound of the boy storming out the door, fists clenched and teeth bared.

"SEE IF I CARE WHAT HAPPENS TO YOU!" The male yelled, making sure that he slammed the door on the way out. Once again, Fai was left alone; extremely confused, in pain, and with a growing sense of guilt in his chest, the blonde pulled the covers over his head and curled into a ball, trying to put his thoughts back into order.

_'Horitsuba...that's where I am. That performing arts academy...and that was Kamui.' _Fai hesitantly poked his head out to look at the room around him, finding various cabinets full of what looked like medicine and other medical supplies. That evidence, paired with the happy 'an apple a day keeps the doctor away' posters on the wall lead the slim male to the conclusion that this was an infirmary of some sort.

_'But why am I here? And why did Fuuma-kun ask Kamui-kun to check on me?' _ Fai wondered, the lack of answers only making his head hurt more. He tried to remember what had happened earlier...he had put his things down, and then...and then what?

The pain finally escalated to a point where the blonde could take no more; he simply shut his eyes and let sleep take him, eager to save his problems for some other time. If he was lucky enough, hopefully they would just solve themselves. Unfortunately, the blonde hadn't been that lucky yet...and the probability that he ever would be was only diminishing.

0330330330330330330330330

Eventually, the door opened again. Fai had moved to a sitting point by this time, choosing to look out the window and stare at the world to pass the time. When he heard the rotation of the doorknob, he had slid his eyes over to look at his newest visitor. "Fuuma-kun," He said cheerfully, smiling. "It's nice of you to visit me~,"

The spikey haired brunette grinned at him, crossing the distance quickly. "It's good to see that you're alive and kicking after taking a blow like that...Kurogane's not exactly gentle, after all. He's like one of those rampaging bulls." The boy said mirthfully, shaking his head. "We all have a little to learn about being gentle." He shrugged his shoulders, turning tawny eyes to meet Fai's own.

"Oh, that's what happened? I honestly don't remember...," The lithe male looked at him, surprised. "I don't remember anything, actually. I ran into him?"

The other male stifled a chuckle, looking amused in a way that honestly scared Fai a little bit. "It's probably better that you don't. Yeah, he was chasing Kamui down the hallway for some reason or another – they love taunting each other – and I guess you just got in his way." Fuuma shook his head, unable to keep the laughter from escaping his lips. "You should have seen Kurogane though; it was hysterical. That guy thought he'd just about killed you. Carried you in here himself, like some huge, hulking mother hen."

Now this was a surprise. Fai couldn't keep his face from turning red; he bashfully kept his gaze on his hands, folded in his lap. "He...did? Kuro-myuu doesn't seem like the kind of person who would do that for anyone...,"

"He did it for you."

Fai blinked, raising his head again to look at the brunette. Fuuma was grinning again; he gently laid a hand on the blonde's shoulder, winking at him. "He did it for you, and that means something with that guy."

The blonde waited for Fuuma to elaborate, but he chose to leave it at that. "Hey, if you're feeling well enough, you can come down to dinner with us...get to know the people and such."

Fai didn't want to pretend that he didn't know what that meant. Fuuma wanted him to start making relationships now, to form attatchments; it would be much harder to get him to agree to join him if the blonde didn't have anything to bind them together. Unfortunately for the brunette, the slim male was an expert in avoiding relationships and people in general. He knew how to keep from getting too attatched, how to leave when he wanted to stay the most. Fai knew how to do what seemed impossible; after all, the actual leaving was the easy part.

Telling someone that you were leaving them for good – now that was the hard part.

"I'm still feeling kind of dizzy...I think that it will be fine." Fai said softly, smiling at him. He already knew that no look of sadness would register upon his features; he was the master at pretending everything was okay.

"I can get everyone to come up here and eat with you if you-,"

"Fuuma-kun." There was a slight warning tone in the blonde's voice this time – enough of one that told him he needed to back off. "I'm fine. I'd rather just be alone right now."

There was an uncomfortable silence for a long time where they just stared at each other, each daring the other to back down. But, as usual, Fai was the victor of this battle; the other male lowered his gaze and sighed, slowly turning to face the door again. The blonde couldn't help but think that this was how his entire life would play out; he would forever be watching people leave. Sure, they would be in his life for a short while, but eventually, everyone left.

"See you tomorrow?" The male asked, looking at him with hope in his eyes. "Please?"

Fai sighed softly, giving him an exhausted hint of smile. "I'll be there." He said softly, with a bit of hesitance. It was like that comment was a shot of energy to the brunette; immediately, his smile perked up, his eyes seeming to sparkle. "I'll see you there! We won't disappoint you! I promise!" Fuuma promised him, looking impossibly giddy as he quickly went out the door. The blonde supposed that he was off to go perfect whatever he was going to show tomorrow. The male moaned and leaned back on the pillows.

_'Maybe I can fake sick and try to get out of it,' _ The blonde thought, sighing. He already knew that he was going. There was no way that he was going to get away from this place. The principal already had Izawa-san on him, probably more. If she knew about him, then there was no telling what else she knew about.

Fai moaned softly, closing his eyes. He was still tired...he didn't know what to do. Tomrrow was going to be a long day – he could feel it in his bones. He worried himself to sleep that night, consumed with thoughts of the past. If he hadn't known any better, he could have sworn that the ghosts that haunted him were swirling around the room, reaching out to prick him with jagged, sharp claws and laughing...laughing at his desire to escape, to have a real life. Even the blonde knew that it was next to impossible, that it was silly to even hope. But he went on anyway, pretending that he didn't realize that this was futile, that he would eventually be found before he could make enough money to get to America.

That night, long after the blonde had fallen asleep, one last person came into his room. He stayed for a long time, muscled form casting a strong shadow over the frail, pale beauty sleeping in the bed before him. Softly, the male's fingers gently wound around a lock of pale, wheat-gold hair. He earned a soft sigh from the blonde, a gentle noise that slipped into his ears and lifted the corners of his mouth. The shadow removed his fingers as slowly as possible, pulling up a chair, planning to stay awhile. He sighed, not sure about what he was doing...but he knew that he wanted to do it.

"...Why are you here, Yui?"

0330330330330330330330330

The next morning came way too soon for Fai's comfort. He'd eventually made his way back to the room he shared with Fuuma and Syaoran the night before, though he really didn't remember when. This morning, both of them had been gone before he had woken up, so he hadn't gotten the chance to ask them who got him back to their room. It was something strange, but the blonde decided to ignore it for now; he had other things to worry about. Today he was going to meet Fuuma and the other members of his crew to see their routine.

The lithe male moved sluggishly through the halls, feeling like he'd slept too much the night before. He wasn't used to getting so many hours of sleep – it was like his body didn't know how to not feel tired. His head was still pounding from the apparent beating he'd gotten from running into Kurogane; in short, Fai really didn't want to go watch Fuuma and his friends right now. He would have much rather fallen asleep a little while more, maybe gone to find some food.

Deliberating until he actually got up to the auditorium door, Fai was stopped when he heard music coming from inside. He paused for a moment, trying to place what the song was. Sliding his fingers along the guilded knob, he closed his eyes and tried to remember the melody that he'd heard for the first time almost two years ago...

Fai's eyes shot open. _'No way...they're actually going to perform _Voodoo Doll_ as their first set?! These guys must have some serious talent!' _ A bright smile grew on his face; before he knew what he was doing, his hands were pushing open the dark oak doors, shadowing him as he spilled light into the back of the dark auditorium. Sure enough, people were dancing on stage – luckily, he seemed to have gotten here just in time to see most of the dance. Fai seated himself in the back, barely able to contain his excitement. What kind of talent was he about to see? Could these guys really be candidates to win this competition?

That was when the short black haired one, Kamui, took his first fall on the stage. Fai immediately stood to offer him some help, but the boy seemed all too capable of standing back up...but then his timing was off. It was so off, in fact, that when the rest of the dancers went to perform the next part of the dance, Kamui smashed into one of them (the brunette one with longer hair...Kazahaya, if Fai wasn't mistaken.), and they both took a tumble. Now, they were fighting on the floor...and the rest of the dance was going on without them.

Not to mention the singing; it was all on pitch, and would have sounded excellent if they had known what the heck they were singing. The remaining people on stage were butchering the Korean. _'Did they actually look up the lyrics to this song?!' _Fai thought incredulously, staring at them with mouth agape.

The dance moves...oh, the _dance moves_. Fai wanted to personally nail all of them to the floor so that they wouldn't get up and embarass themselves like this. It was almost physically painful to watch all of this go on – and it wasn't that they sucked at dancing. Okay, most of them did...but even the ones like the one who looked a lot like Kamui and Fuuma who could actually dance a little bit didn't have any _emotion_ behind what they were doing. They were going through the motions as they tried to ignore Kamui and Kazahaya sprawled on the floor, and Syaoran standing around in the corner, trying not to be seen. There was no feeling to this. This was just...this was just...

"_Fake._"

Fai's eyes snapped open. He couldn't stand this anymore. He immediately located the sound booth, and marched up into it, throwing the door open and ignoring the tall male who was manning the sound board. Pale fingers located the main switch, and snapped it to off, his eyes burning with fierceness.

"Suwa! What the hell? What happened to the track?" Fuuma demanded, opening his mouth to say something else. As soon as the door popped open and the blonde emerged, however, he shut his mouth.

_'Suwa...,'_ Fai wasn't paying any attention. He couldn't place the last name right now – all he could think about was how badly this needed to be fixed. It just had to be. There was no way in hell that he could let that go onto a stage in front of _anyone_.

"Everyone. Front and center. Now."

There was no joke in the willowy male's voice. Slowly, the five members of the group all made their way to center stage, looking around at one another as they tried to decide what was going on. As soon as Fai was standing in front of them on the ground, he was talking, hands clasped behind his back as he paced.

"What in the world was that?! Who picked that song? Did any of you look at the lyrics before you started? Did you watch the dance practice videos? Come on you guys! I thought that I was coming here to see people who were serious about what they were doing! I got here, and it looked like no one knows what the heck they are doing!" Here, the blonde stopped, looking straight at them. "And forget the dancing, the singing...whatever else...that had no emotion! Do you guys even know what that song is about? Do you?"

There was a beat of silence before it dawned on them that the angry male wanted an answer. Eventually, the one who looked like Kamui raised his hand, looking a bit nervous. Fai nodded at him to go on. "...It's about...being...being sad, isn't it?" He asked quietly, looking at the blonde for conformation.

_'You're kidding.' _The male thought, staring back at him. "Being...sad..." Fai trailed off, looking around at them. "That's it? Didn't any of you try and look up the Japanese lyrics to figure out what it means?"

"...No...we thought that the contest was just about who could dance the best cover." For the first time, Fuuma spoke. He looked really embarassed; his eyes didn't lift from the floor once as he spoke. "...I know that we aren't the best at dancing and singing, but...does it matter what the words say?"

Fai couldn't believe this. He stared at them each in turn, bewildered by what he was hearing. "Does it matter...of course it does! You go around singing something that you don't know the lyrics to? A song is more than just a beat!" He sighed angrily, finding the stairs so that he could climb up to where the were. "In KPOP, some songs are just catchy. But almost all of them have a story. There's a story that we have to convey with our voices and our bodies...you don't just get up in front of people and move around a little bit!"

"Well, if we don't know what the damn song is about, we can't do that." Kamui muttered, looking at him. "Besides, half of us can't dance the stupid thing anyway, so what's the point in actually trying? We're just gonna get last like we do every year. We just can't do this. Maybe it's time that we quit."

"Kamui!"

"Subaru, just shut it. This is useless." Kamui stood up; Fai noticed that he wasn't looking at Fuuma...and that the former was looking like someone had just shot him in the chest. "We don't know how to dance, we can barely sing, and we've been trying for a year already. We're done." With that, the short boy began to storm off the stage, heading right for the blonde.

Fai moved to stand in front of Kamui, arms spread out. "Do you want to be a failure, Kamui?" He asked softly, looking him right in the eyes. "Do you really want to walk out on something that you and your friends have worked so hard for? Are you really that much of a coward?"

The short noirette literally stiffened at that. "IM NOT A COWARD!" He shouted, getting right up in Fai's face. "We can't do this! You just said yourself that we suck! I'm not going to stay on this train wreck any more!" Roughly, Kamui tried to shove past...but Fai stood his ground, planting himself firmly in the other boy's path.

"Maybe that was before, but now I'm here. I'm going to make sure that this is fixed." The willowy male held out his hand in offering, looking at him with a plea in his eyes. "Stay. Give me a chance to help you. I promise that you won't regret this."

Kamui opened his mouth to say something, but he was cut off by a very frail voice from the other side of the room.

"Kamui...please?"

It was the look-alike...Subaru, if Fai's memory was correct. He had stood, and was coming over to them. "Please, Kamui...," He said softly, reaching them. He was just about to place his hand on the boy's shoulder when Kamui shook him off, pushed past Fai with all of the strength he could muster, and walked out of the auditorium, slamming the door as he went.

There was a brief moment of silence in that place, ended by a soft cry from the one Fai assumed to be Subaru. The boy was just about to run out after his brother, but he was stopped in his tracks when Fuuma spoke up again. "Forget it, Subaru. There's no point in trying to convince him to come back. I was the one that forced him to be here...and now that I know his true feelings, there's no need to-,"

"That wasn't true!" Subaru countered, standing in front of Fuuma with wide, worried eyes. "No! He told me that he was okay with being here...that he didn't mind it...he didn't mean what he said, Fuuma-san! I promise you that he didn't!"

So there was some history there, Fai noted, watching the two interact. His gaze shifted to Kazahaya as they argued, who was checking his phone with a strained look on his face. When he looked at Syaoran, he just saw the boy staring off into space, looking as though he'd like nothing better than the floor to swallow him whole.

_'There's another problem,' _The blonde noted, wanting to bang his head against the nearest wall. _'There's too many things going on here...too many outside issues. They're never going to get anything done on their own. There's just no way._'

It was true – if these guys thought that this performance had been alright, then they were in desperate need of help. They wre really nice people, and had treated Fai kindly thus far...but they weren't ever going to win a competition intended for people who wanted to be in KPOP more than they wanted to have lives. Not to mention if they won and actually acquired status as a band; the company owned your life. It wasn't just a part time job where you could clock in and clock out whenever you wanted. You were told where to go, how to dress, how to act, who to fall in love with...it wasn't much in the way of freedom. If these guys didn't see that, then perhaps they were even more than Fai would know how to handle.

Before the willowy male realized what he was saying, the words were flowing out of his mouth. "I'll do it."

The members that were still there looked at him, most frowning in confusion as to what he had just said. "What?" Fuuma asked, sounding almost unsure whether or not he could ask that question.

"...I'll help you." Fai said, turning bright eyes to them. He couldn't help how he felt when he thought about dancing again...even if it would only lead to his unhappiness in the end. "I'll teach you everything you need to know. I can't dance for you...but I can show you anything. Just as long as I'm not the one dancing."

Fuuma stood and went over to him, a small smile just beginning to peek out of the curtain of melancholy that had fallen over his face. "It's a deal." He offered his hand to the blonde, and time seemed to slow.

Fai had no idea what he had just done, or how it was going to impact his life. He didn't know what he was going to do now, since he was completely breaking his promise to stay away from KPOP for the rest of his days. There was only one thing that he was sure of – he wanted to dance. More than anything, he just wanted to do the thing that he loved most again, no matter what the cost or how much it harmed him in the end.

The willowy male took his hand and shook it, Fuuma's small smile copied and pasted onto his own lips. "I'll do my best~," He replied cheerfully, trying to push down the growing worry in his heart. He didn't know what he was going to do now; five minutes of seeing them and he was already way more involved than he'd wanted to be. That was only going to make him miserably in the end...Fai knew that, yet he continued to jump in to every painful situation headfirst, never thinking before he-

"I guess we should actually introduce ourselves...I really don't know if you know everyone here." Fuuma admitted abashedly, rubbing the back of his head. "I mean, you know me...and the moron that just ran out of here was Kamui...but the rest of our group is here. You guys introduce yourselves."

Kamui's look-a-like smiled and nodded at Fai in a shy, innocent kind of way. "I'm Subaru...Kamui's twin brother." He said softly, a sheepish grin spreading over his face.

"Kazahaya." Fai had known this one; he nodded to the other male, who was leaning against the stage left wall, arms crossed over his chest. He seemed to have a pretty stormy personality as well, just like Kamui. _'These guys had better get friendly fast...I don't know if the fans are going to like people who don't want to have anything to do with them. Then again...,' _He thought, eyes running over to the last member.

"I'm rooming with you...so I guess you know that I'm Syaoran." The male smiled apologetically, shrugging his shoulders. "I'm a twin, too...Shoaran, my twin brother, is looking at joining as well...but I don't know if his grades are going to hold up enough for him to get in."

_'Lots of twins in this group...,'_ Fai thought distractedly, giving the boy another beautifully produced poker-face smile. "It's a pleasure to meet all of you," He said, bowing to them. "I will do my best to ensure your success."

That was the beginning of not just a season, but a lifetime. One day, the blonde would look back on this moment and realize just how much his life had changed with just one decision. The love, the loss, the pain...it all began right here.

However, at this moment, Fai D'Flourite had no idea what the hell he had just gotten himself into.


End file.
